


Last of Us 2 Epilogue to the epilogue

by KJ (IfUrOKThenImOk)



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Ellie - Freeform, F/F, Forgiveness, Jackson - Freeform, Joel - Freeform, Joel and Ellie - Freeform, Last of Us, Prologue, ellie and dina, ellie and joel, ellie williams, last of us 2, lastofus, returning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 08:09:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24966505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IfUrOKThenImOk/pseuds/KJ
Summary: I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending of Last of Us 2 so I've written a one-shot epilogue to the epilogue! This is what I imagine would happen with Ellie after she leaves the farm.Enjoy this one-shot and let me know if it's realistic! :)
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 108





	Last of Us 2 Epilogue to the epilogue

Last of Us II Epilogue

Jackson was only a day away from the farm. Ellie and Dina had chosen this distance so they could still travel between the small town and their home if needed but still be left alone. On a horse, it was an even shorter journey.  
Ellie had checked if there were any horses left in the area near the farm but luck wasn’t on her side. Luck hadn’t been on her side for months now.  
Surviving hordes of runners, occasionally running into clickers. Groups of bandits were also a big concern that Ellie mostly tried to avoid. As if those problems all weren’t enough, she’d have to scavenge for food and drinks as well... and somehow that was the most difficult part. She could easily kill a runner or a clicker but food was rare and drinkable water even more scarce.

Ellie had grown thin and weak because of this over the months. She could survive weeks without much food and water but months really was difficult. At this point, she was surprised she was even alive.  
When she’d started her journey back to the farm months ago, she had been wounded. There was a huge wound in her stomach and she was missing two fingers, her fight with Abby had also left her all bruised and swollen. Anyone could’ve taken her out easily at that moment.

Her return trip had been long and difficult but walking those last few miles to Jackson was the hardest. She did not know how everyone would react to her returning. She was pretty sure she was even presumed dead, what was supposed to be a quick journey turned into many months of searching for Abby.  
...  
Abby.

She would have to come face to face with everyone and tell them that she didn’t kill Abby. Her journey had essentially been a waste. But she didn’t regret it. It had been painful and hard but somehow, she had come to terms with letting Abby go. That unfortunately didn’t mean that her PTSD was gone. Ellie was honestly surprised that every time she had woken up screaming a runner hadn’t heard her and killed her right then.

As Ellie neared the gate that stood between the wild and Jackson she looked down at her arm. Making sure the bandage was covering the scar of her runner bite she’d gotten in Santa Barbra. Nobody would question a bloody dirty old bandage around her arm but they would definitely question a zombie bite, which could lead to her death.  
In Jackson, only Maria, Tommy and Dina knew about the bite... and Joel. Thinking about him still hurt. There’s so much that she wants to tell him but she can’t. If only he was still here.

“Ellie?” An unsure voice called out from the tower next to the gate.  
Ellie slowly looked up; the sun was blinding her. She dragged up her arm to shield her eyes against the light. Tommy was standing in the watchtower. Ellie waved at him, Tommy immediately came into motion and disappeared, going down the tower to open the gate.  
Ellie was exhausted. When the gate opened, she staggered forwards. Tommy immediately came running out and hugged her.

“I can’t believe you made it! We all thought you were dead”

Ellie gave Tommy a tired grin, “can’t get rid of me that easily”

Tommy helped her walk into the town, being safe had made the adrenaline flowing through her body immediately evaporate, it was replaced by exhaustion. Her legs felt like pudding.  
A group surrounded them; Ellie tried looking for Dina but could not find her. Everyone was happy by Ellie’s return but it was too much for her.

Tommy saw this and lead her towards the hospital away from everyone.  
When everyone had gone back to their work and Tommy and Ellie were alone, staggering through the town he immediately asked the question Ellie knew he would ask.

“Did you kill her?”  
After all, that had been the entire point of her journey, to kill Abby. Get revenge for Joel.

“Yes,” She couldn’t look him into the eyes when she said it. Immediately she felt guilt overwhelm her, but she knew she couldn’t tell him the truth. He’d lose it and might go after Abby himself.  
Ellie wondered if this is how Joel felt when he had lied to her about the Fireflies not needing Ellie anymore for a cure...

He must have.

Once at the hospital immediately two nurses rushed over to her, they were teenagers in training to become a doctor one day. A very important job to have in an apocalypse, medics are essential.  
They led her to a nearby hospital bed. Tommy excused himself and told her he was going to get her something to eat and drink.  
The nurses were soon joined by a doctor. They all examined her wounds and cleaned up her stitches that Ellie had poorly put into her wounds months earlier. They gave her painkillers, a relief Ellie didn’t realize she needed it until the moment she took it. She was used to the pain by now that she had just accepted it. The painkillers numbing the pain felt like it cleared Ellie’s mind as if she could properly think again. But the exhaustion was still there and the only way to get rid of that was to sleep.

The doctor also concluded that she was dehydrated and severely underweight, Ellie could’ve already guessed that.  
When it came time to clean up her bandage around her arm Ellie froze.  
The doctor was a kind middle-aged woman and the moment she’d taken Ellie’s arm, Ellie immediately pulled it out off her grip and into her body as if to protect it.

“No” she breathed; her voice hoarse from the dryness. Her eyes went wide as the doctor attempted to grab her arm again, this time Ellie shot up from the hospital bed and into a corner. As if she was a lone animal cornered by a predator.

“Sweetie, it’s just to clean. You can’t walk around with a dirty bandage” The woman waved the two nurses away as if to give Ellie some space.  
“No” Ellie simply said again, her body was shaking now. She really needed to rest.

“Nora I’ll handle this” a new voice called out behind the woman.  
That’s when her legs collapsed and Ellie fell to the ground, the doctor, now named Nora immediately rushed towards her to catch her but Ellie immediately pushed her off as if the touch felt like a burn to her.  
Ellie sat on the ground, knees up to her chin, protecting her arm behind it. She was shaking so much; she didn’t want to appear too weak but she couldn’t help it. Her eyes shot up to the newcomer.

Maria was watching her with a concerned look on her face. Tommy stood beside her holding a bottle of water.

“Nora, can you please leave us alone for a moment?” Maria asked the middle-age woman, her eyes still trained on Ellie. Nora nodded and quickly left the room.  
“You look terrible” Maria finally said, she walked over and helped Ellie up from the ground.

“Thanks” Ellie answered sarcastically. Tommy handed her the bottle which she immediately opened and starting drinking out of.

“What’s up with the bandage?” Maria asked curiously. Ellie narrowed her eyes; she shot a glance at the door which was closed. It was only the three of them now. She quickly closed the bottle and put it onto the bed next to her.  
She then started to unwrap the bandage around her arm. The scar of the bite looked disgusting. It hadn’t been properly cleaned in a while, Ellie had mostly ignored it as it was another reminder of her immunity,  
“You really are lucky with your immunity kid,” Tommy told her. Ellie just nodded; she was lucky which was unfair. Why was she the lucky one and not her friend who had died because of a simple runner bite.

“I’ll get you some more acid on my next run out of town” he continued. Maria grabbed a nearby cloth and put some alcohol on it.

“Want to tell us what you’ve been up to?” Maria asked surprisingly kind. She started to clean the scar on Ellie’s arm.  
“Nothing much to tell, I tracked down Abby to Santa Barba and killed her” Ellie tried to wave it off, now she was lying to Maria too. This shouldn’t become a habit.

“I get it if you don’t want to talk about it now, just know we’re always here if you need someone” Maria looked up at Ellie. Ellie couldn’t look her into the eyes and instead just looked at the ground, “Yeah, I know”

“We should get you to a house so you can sleep,” Maria said, quickly putting clean bandages around Ellie’s arm.  
“You can move into Joel’s house if you’re okay with that.” Tommy suggested, Ellie frowned and looked up at him, “Nobody has moved in there yet?”  
Normally when a house became empty because of the passing of an owner it’d be inhabited by new people quite quickly.

“No, it felt wrong to move a stranger into the house.” Tommy admitted, “Joel would want you to have it”  
Ellie nodded, “Thank you”.

“You’re all done here, I’ll go tell Nora that we’re bringing you to your house” Maria smiled at Ellie in an attempt to brighten the mood.  
Maria moved to exit the room.

“Maria?” Ellie asked. Maria stopped and turned around to look at the young girl, “Yeah?”

“Where’s Dina?”

Ellie didn’t miss the look Maria and Tommy shared before Maria let out a deep sigh, “Dina and JJ came here months ago. They’re doing fine but I suggest you don’t go looking for her”  
Ellie frowned at that, “why?”

“You hurt her Ellie. She told me that if you’d show up one day to not tell you into which house, she moved. She just wants to be left alone”  
Ellie’s heart broke hearing that “But that’s not fair. I need to talk to her”

Maria actually sent her a look of empathy, “I’m sure she’ll come to you when she’s ready but you need to work on yourself first”  
Ellie felt anger boil up in her, “I am fine! I just want to say sorry”

“Ellie you’re not fine, but we will help you” Maria offered. Ellie just shook her head no, she stood up from the bed. “I don’t need your help”

Before either Tommy or Maria could say anything, Ellie had already left the room.  
Stuck in her thoughts, her legs carried her to Joel’s house.  
The moment she saw it a sense of calmness fell over her. A calmness she hadn’t felt the last time she was there.

She opened the door, the room felt like it was frozen in time. Everything had been left like it was the day Joel had passed away.  
Before she knew it, she was laying on Joel’s bed and the sleep rushed over her.

the first weeks back in Jackson were hard. Every night she woke up from nightmares when Maria found out she’d been sleeping badly she gave Ellie sleeping pills which actually helped a little. She’d still wake up from nightmares but less.  
Ellie had also been walking around town, hoping to run into Dina and JJ but somehow Dina always managed to avoid her.  
Joel’s grave was another place Ellie visited regularly. She’d discovered that talking to Joel’s tombstone, how dumb it may sound. Was actually very calming to her. It felt like she was coming to terms with everything better if she’d tell it to Joel.  
Everyone in town knew who Ellie was. She’d heard people whisper to each other when Ellie walked by them in the streets but nobody actually confronted her about anything which she was grateful for.  
Every morning she’d show up to the gate in hopes of being allowed out for patrol but every day she was denied. Ellie knew that Maria wouldn’t allow her out until she showed clear signs of being better. Which Ellie hated, but she was slowly gaining more strength and eating healthier. It wouldn’t be long before they’d let her go out again.

It was Maria’s birthday. She’d invited a bunch of people over to her garden. Ellie was one of them. It was already dark outside and the stars shone brightly. Ellie was sitting on a wooden log in front of a huge campfire, Tommy was sitting next to her playing some tunes on an old guitar. Around the campfire were more people, either talking with each other or listening to Tommy playing.  
Ellie was staring into the fire listening to the song Tommy was playing. It reminded her of Joel.

“Your turn,” a voice said forcing Ellie out of her thoughts. She frowned as Tommy pushed the guitar into her arms.

“She’s really good, my brother taught her to play,” Tommy told other people around the campfire proudly.  
Ellie looked up into the crowd to tell them she can’t play when her eyes fell onto Dina. Ellie froze, she felt her heartbeat into her throat.  
Dina was standing on the other side of the campfire, staring at her expectantly.

“Play Through the Valley” Tommy encouraged her.  
Ellie quickly looked away from Dina, suddenly feeling ashamed. She pushed the guitar back into Tommy’s arms.

“I can’t play”

“What do you mean you can’t pl-“Tommy started but Ellie held up her hand with the two missing fingers.

“I can’t play. Not anymore” Ellie said again, suddenly Tommy’s eyes widened at the dumb mistake he’d made.

“Oh, I’m sorry Ellie”

Ellie just quickly nodded and looked back to see that Dina had disappeared.  
Ellie shot up from the log.

“Where are you going?” Tommy frowned confused.

“I’m going to get a drink, I’ll be back quickly” Ellie lied before rushing off to find Dina. She walked around desperately looking around. After a few minutes of rushing around the entire garden, she’d realized Dina was gone.

Having seen her again took away all the need for Ellie to party. She wasn’t in the mood anymore. Disappointed she walked out the garden, her shoulders hung low.  
As she walked through the streets, she’d passed a small playground. It was completely empty as all children were asleep during this time of the night. Ellie walked over to the swings and sat down in one. Slowly swinging back and forth as she stared at the night sky that was filled with many stars.

She’d heard someone approach her but ignored it. Ellie wasn’t into the mood to talk to Tommy or Maria; whichever one had followed her.

The person sat down in the swing next to her, Ellie was about to say that she wanted to be left alone when the person spoke.

“They say you killed her”

Ellie froze, she slowly turned her head towards her side to look at the person. Dina was sitting next to her on the swing, still looking as breathtaking as she always did.  
The moment Ellie looked at her, Dina averted her look and just looked straight ahead of her.

“Dina” Ellie breathed as if she couldn’t quite believe she was actually sitting in front of her.

“I really thought you’d died this time” Dina continued; her voice sounded sad.

“I’m sorry for leaving you like that” Ellie told Dina sincerely.

“From what I’ve heard from others, you’ve paid the price for it. You were the talk of the town when you returned”

Ellie looked at Dina who still wasn’t looking at her. “I didn’t kill her”

Dina frowned and finally turned her head to look at Ellie. Their eyes locked, Ellie expected Dina to be angry at that. After all, she had left Dina to kill Abby. Instead, there was a sense of relief on Dina’s face.

“Do you regret not killing her?”

Ellie looked at her hands, her missing two fingers were a reminder of the fight with Abby.

“No.” Ellie was silent for a moment before she continued, “I am glad I found her though. I was so lost and sparing her gave me back a sense of who I am as a person. I needed that”

“I am happy for you”

Ellie looked at Dina again who was still staring at her. “But I am so sorry for leaving you. I didn’t want to hurt you”

Dina nodded, “I wanted to hate you for leaving me and I was convinced I did for a couple of weeks. But I had to acknowledge that you were stuck and the only person who could help you was yourself. I had to let you save yourself”

It was silent for a moment as Ellie soaked in those words.

“I could never hate you but I told you that day that I can’t do this again” Dina finally said, there was a sadness in her voice. Ellie's eyes teared up but she nodded, she’d figured it would be like this from the start.

“I know”

Dina slowly stood up and walked a few steps away. Ellie thought she was leaving but then Dina stopped and looked at her, “But if you can change your mind about killing Abby then you might be able to convince me to change my mind as well”

Ellie’s eyes widened at this, she looked at Dina who had already turned around and was now walking away into the darkness of the night.

Ellie felt hope blossom into her chest, a small smile spread across her face. She then whispered a promise into the darkness;

“I’ll fight for you and JJ until the end”

she then got up and ran to catch up with Dina.

THE END


End file.
